Business Events and Friendship: Leveraging the Sociable Legacies

Abstract

Business events are celebrated for their contributions to community and industry. They are understood to be shared social contexts in which people meet to advance knowledge, sell products, and network. Less celebrated and, arguably, less understood is that business events provide a context for the development of friendships. In 2011 an online survey was conducted with the delegates of five international business events held in Sydney, Australia in the period 2009–2011. The survey was designed to investigate business legacies of the events (such as investment opportunities, research collaborations) rather than sociable legacies. however, a surprising number of references to friendship were made in the “additional comments” sections of the questionnaire. reflecting on this finding, this article argues that friendships forged at business events contribute to, respectively: the well-being of delegates, association membership levels, conference attendance, retention of personnel in the profession, successful research and professional collaborations, and creativity and innovation in the sector. Business event planners can maximize opportunities for sociable outcomes among delegates by designing warm and inviting event spaces that facilitate interaction, and by providing social space for the development of relationships, optimal conditions for sociability, and opportunities for play to stimulate creativity and build community.

"All Shook Up" at the Parkes Elvis Festival: The Role of Play in Events

“…In an overview of the nexus of leisure and event studies, Patterson and Getz (2013) discuss the concept of liminality, which is described as a state of social limbo during which participants play with elements of culture, and note that events can be defined as liminoid experiences. In a study of the sociable legacies of business events, Foley et al (2014) recognize that people are drawn to events by the expectation that they are going to have some fun. They draw on play theory (Huizinga, 1980;Simmel, 1964;Wearing, 1998) and play's associations with social bonds and creativity to elucidate their findings that business events spark both friendships and innovation.…”

Understanding the Well-Being Potential of Participatory Arts Events for the Over 70s: A Conceptual Framework and Research Agenda

“…Much of the research suggests that the social aspects of an event experience remain the most important motivation for many attendees (Dodd, Yuan, Adams, & Kolysnikova, 2006;Nicholson & Pearce, 2001). Even within business events the friendships formed have been found to be one of the most important legacies of attendance (Foley, Edwards, & Schlenker, 2014). Crompton and McKay's (1997) early research found that meeting new people and socializing with friends and family were key motivators to event attendance.…”

At work and play

“…They emphasise how the innovation process is characterised by social complex interactions of knowledge sharing across individuals and organisations, and the entrepreneurial activity is the capacity to seize where events take place are important in facilitating these knowledge ecosystems as they provide the setting for socialisation, (Fjelstul et al, 2009) engender the required trust and therefore coalesces collaborators. In this context the expedient role of playful settings encourages a more casual and creative environment within which the desired relationships can be built (Foley et al, 2014).…”

“…Socialisation and trust, and the creation of a shared social reality, underpin the potential for entrepreneurial outcomes through events (Foley at al., 2014). In this inherently sociable space people, have the potential to be, detached from their own personal and social constraints, finding themselves in an artificial environment of temporary equality which enables a freedom to experiment and engage in creativity (Simmel, 1964).…”

“…Cities are both containers for many thousands of events each year and the canvas upon which these events are designed and experienced (Richards and Palmer, 2010). Outcomes are far-reaching, and their legacies prolific in shaping the physical and social landscape and also influencing the economic prosperity of organizations and people (Foley et al, 2014; Richards, 2013). The extent to which these event experiences engage and inspire participants, and specifically facilitate future innovation and entrepreneurial opportunity, impinges, to a large extent, upon the nature of their design.…”